The Business Of Photography

Running a photography business can be a bit overwhelming at first. There are so many tools and resources out there at our disposal, how do we know which ones to choose to help run our photography business? Below you will find many blog posts with my opinion on the strategies, and tools that I have used over the last ten years to run my business.

7 Easy Marketing Tips For Photographers

If you want clients, then you need to be actively showing up everyday and doing something to market your photography business. You can’t just post your photos on social media and expect them to find you. Here are 7 easy marketing tips that you can start implementing today.

If you are a beginner photographer, then it’s no secret that you work very hard to get more clients. You want your friends, family and potential clients to take you seriously. One aspect of photography that you may not realize has quite a big impact on potential clients taking you and your business seriously, is your watermark.

Customer service in your photography business should be your number one priority. A little bit of communication and thoughtfulness can go a long way. Especially when it comes to making your clients feel special and making them feel like they are your priority. Well, without them, you obviously would not be in business.

When you hear the word branding, does that make you think of your logo, website and business colors? Unfortunately that is not what you should be thinking of when you hear that word. Yes, the 3 things I mentioned above do have a little bit to do with branding. But that’s roughly 20% of it.

Are you struggling with ideas for the upcoming slow season? Are you getting a little nervous trying to figure out how you will keep the cash flow coming in during the winter months? Here are 7+ ideas that you can get started with right away, and keep your momentum going when the frigid temps hit!

This dreaded slow season is just about upon us on location photographers. Of course we have to make it through our fall season! If you do not work out of a studio, then yes, the slow times can be worrisome. Which does not help because you may be depending on the income to help with the holidays!

When you are just starting out in any business, there is no way to tell how successfulit is going to be. Or if it will be successful at all. So should you immediatelystart the process of becoming a legal business? Should you pay for becoming a sole prop or an LCC right away?

Have you been thinking about hiring a second shooter to help you out at weddings? They are a huge help when you are hired for a wedding that is 6 hours or longer, or when the entire event is quite big. But what if you don't know how to hire one? Or what the expectations should be from a second shooter?

When you are starting out in photography, you can't learn everything right away. It takes time, patience, and a lot of experience. Trying and failing will happen. It's how you grow from your starting point that defines your success. Here are 6 things I have learned over the last 10 years of being in business.

Why Your Photography Business Needs a Blog, And How it Can Make You Money

There are many misconceptions about blogs and the people that have them, and most of them are untrue. I have been blogging for close to a year and it has opened my eyes to so many oportunities I never realized existed.

I don’t normally do this, but I am starting off this blog post with a bit of a personal story. It more than helps with getting my point across about dealing with photography clients, and people in general.

Sadly a lot of beginner photographers have come to rely on social media to bring in paying clients. This is not a blog post to discredit social media. We most definetly need to be using it, and need to be everywhere our clients are. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. When we find a business we love or are interested in checking out, we typically seek them out on social media to find out more about them. Their prices, products, and overall, their brand.

When you are a beginner photographer, trying to get your name out there, trying to take control and show you have authority in your niche, it can be hard when you don't really have the experience. However, getting a workflow set in stone, following it, and being consistent, will help boost your confidence and get ahead in the game.

All photographers experience a slow time. Just because you are starting out in your business, don't think it's just you. We ALL do. These days it seems like we never have enough hours in our days. Life gets so busy! You have to stop and think, anyone outside of the photography industry, does not think about taking pictures the way we do. We are constantly either thinking of creative shots we want to take, as well as creative ideas to get clients to book with us.

A lot of people say that this market is saturated. If you see it the way I do, then its not. There are billions of people on this planet. And each individual person is different from the next. BUT, we all click with someone. You just have to take the time to find your ideal client. When you research who your ideal client is, and market to them, they will flock to you!

This question, should you make your pricing public, is such an open ended question. There are so many opinions on this topic. One of them being, "Sure, I post my prices. It weeds out the ones just looking for a cheap service.". While that is true, it makes me cringe!

The Email Marketing For Beginners that is in the Vault right now, was written and based on my knowledge with Mailchimp. Its not instructional. But it is filled with general information. How to get sign ups, a list of different newsletter services that are out there, why you need to be using email marketing, and what the heck you even say when sending out newsletters. Oh and how to write a subject line that gets the email opened! You can check that out in The Freebie Vault by getting the password for it HERE.

Remember before we had Facebook, there was Myspace? Don't lie. Yes you do remember! Tom was everyone's friend, and sometimes he was even in the top friends list! But Myspace ended up disappearing. Well, not entirely. It's still there. But it's more for music now. Also, recently the internet lost Vine. There are many many social media platforms out there and I'm sure all of us are on at least 3 of them. Do you know what they all have in common? The next big thing can and will come along, and replace them. If you have a significant amount of followers that enjoy your content, you would loose them.

We all do it. As photographers, as artists. We all compare ourselves to other photographers. I hate to say this, but some go so far comparing themselves, that they just up and quit photography. That makes me so sad!!

When it comes to the term brand, the first thing that comes to mind is your business colors and logo right? That is only 40% of what makes up the term. Your brand is YOU. It is your personality and the type of clients you attract. Me personally, my tarket market is blue collar families, stay at home moms, soccer moms, families that do things together. Like sports, family trips, movies. But at the same time, families that are thrifty and like saving money. Not so much the extreme couponer, but looking for the affordable option.

I was talking to a very good friend of mine earlier today about her starting to dive in to her photography passion, and eventually charging for her services. She apologized for asking so many questions...ASK!!! As many as you want!! I want you ALL to do that! We ALL start somewhere. I know that there are photographers out there that get snotty with beginners. Stop talking to them and move on. Do NOT let it hurt your feelings one bit. Not all seasoned photographers are like that. That's why you are here.

I love doing mini sessions. I pick the location, they are 30 minutes, not a lot of editing, and I can schedule as many as I can fit in to my allotted time. But, some times I have a hard time coming up with ideas if I want to do a themed mini session.

Do you have a hard time coming up with posts for social media? You get stuck on what to say to get a sale? What if you had someone write them for you?? What?? No really! Check out some of the statuses below from the BRAND NEW "300 Sales Statuses for Facebook and Instagram"!! Copy, paste and customize these statuses: